A Long, Long Time Ago
by Darkironprincess17
Summary: Five shinigami sitting in a tree. Five shinigami so happy they'd be. Five shinigami grew up too fast. Five shinigami with very different pasts. Come on the journey of the past, present and future of William, Grell, Ronald, Leah and Ashlyn as they fight for their lives, loves, friends, to save the world of Grim Reapers. Some violence and swearing. art included. Eventual shipping.
1. Chapter 1- William

-WILLIAM-

"William! Marissa! Dinner!" comes the voice from the window.

The little girl immediately drops the stick fort she's making and pounces on her older brother. "C'mon Will!"

"I don't wanna" The boy complains, still intently focused on his little sand fort. The kids are still young, the girl being about six and the boy about eight.

"WIiiiiiiiiiiiiiilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll" The girl shakes her brother's arm incessantly. "Mom's not gonna be happy with us"

"Then you go and I'll catch up"

"No!" She clings onto his arm. "I'm staying with you."

After a couple moments of uselessly trying to shake off his sister, the young boy stands and picks Marissa up over his shoulder and trudges towards the house with her, the younger struggling and squealing the entire time in between fits of giggles.

The two Spears children absolutely adore each other. It's doubtful anyone could ever find a closer pair of siblings anywhere in the blue city. They always play together, spend nearly all their time together. They'd chase the neighbour's cat together, make snow-forts together in winter, and if either of them got in trouble, they'd both make sure they both got in trouble and shared the blame.

A little William finally throws open the door and plops Marissa down on the couch, heading over to kick off his shoes. When Marissa kicks off her shoes from the couch, she tries throwing them towards the shoe rack, but she misses miserably. The shoes rocket off the wall, knocking a painting to the ground and several other pairs of shoes before tumbling about a good three feet away from where they should be.

Marissa freaks out and grabs the painting, only to nearly drop it again.

Their mother quietly walks through the kitchen doorway into the living room at the sound of the crash, and merely sighs and shakes her head at her daughter's tearful apologies before taking the frame from her and replacing it on the wall. It's not like it was uncommon. Marissa was so terribly clumsy that she fell at least twice a day, and couldn't even drink something without slopping it on herself first by accident.

William was also clumsy, but not nearly to the same extent. After having been asked if he already required glasses, Will had vehemently shaken his head, dreading the idea of glasses even at this young age. He certainly needed them, but he wasn't going to actually admit that fact yet.

The little pair wander into the kitchen to take their seats as their mother serves them food. Today's dinner is mashed potatoes with chicken and gravy. Unfortunately, it's either William or Marissa who dislike whatever it is their mother cooks, and today it's Marissa's turn to push her plate away in disgust. She picks away at some chicken before stuffing a bunch of mashed potatoes over onto Will's plate.

"Hey!"

Marissa points a finger to her lips, with big pleading puppy eyes.

William sighs and shakes his head at his sister before eating the rest of his food before they were caught.

Moments later, their mother walks in, a bit surprised that Marissa actually ate her dinner. She walks over and ruffles her hair.

"Apple pie for dessert?"

"yeah!" Both siblings yell in unison before high five-ing each other, scrambling out from their seats and chasing each other up the stairs for first dibs on the couch to watch loony tunes.


	2. Chapter 2- Leah

-LEAH-

"Once upon a time, there was a pretty young woman. She had long brown hair, bright eyes and a no-nonsense attitude."

"That's mama!" Comes the little voice.

"Yes it is. Now don't interrupt a story, sweetie. Bad manners, remember?"

"Yes daddy." Comes the little reply.

The golden-haired man kneeling at the child's bedside pauses, recollecting his thoughts for his story. He takes a book from the shelf, and holds it so it floats open, the pages flipping so that each drawing makes an animation to his voice.

"There was nothing more this young woman wanted to do than to become a grim reaper. But then, when she went to school, some evil demons decided to destroy the school!"

There's a teeny gasp from the five year old. "They didn't, did they daddy?"

"They did, but that's when I came in to stop them! I stepped on their big toes," He stamps his foot on the floor "Tweaked their noses for good measure, and sent them flying back where they came from."

There's a small chuckle from the doorframe. "More like you hid under a desk, John." The woman laughs. "I helped and I don't even have telekinesis like you do."

"Aw come on, Mari, I came out to help you evetually." Johnathan chuckles.

"What happened next, papa?" The kid tugs on his blue dress shirt.

"Well, your mother was able to finish her training a few years later, and then we fell in love and got happily married and had you." He kisses the little girl's forehead.

"I want to be a grim reaper too!"

"We'll see when you get older, honey." Marianna walks up, patting down the amber strands of her daughter's hair.

"Can you tell me another story?"

"Not tonight, Leah. It's way past your bedtime, you know that." The book shuts itself and slides back into place on the shelf. Her father stands from his spot, taking Marianna's hand.

"Good night sweetheart."

"Good night mama"

"Good night Lee-lee"

"Good night papa."

Mr. and Mrs. Hayes leave the room, flicking off the lights and closing the flower-patterned door behind them.


	3. Chapter 3- Grell

-GRELL-

A young boy happily follows his father into the woods, lugging around a small axe as he trails behind the black haired man who holds a saw and a sled. It's snowing softly on the ground as the pair slowly make their way deeper into the forest where the pine trees grow.

"How about this one?" Mr. Sutcliff adjusts his ponytail, pointing to the nearest tree.

Grell studies it intently before shaking his head. "It's too bare."

"All right then, what about this one?"

"It's too fat."

"This one?"

"It's got the bottom branches missing."

"That's good, though, Grell, it means less pine needles on the ground."

"No!" Grell pouts. "There won't be enough space for all the decorations!"

His father chuckles before adjusting the grey hat over Grell's red hair so it covers his ears a bit better before they continue into the forest.

Grell's eyes immediately light up when they find the perfect tree. "That one!"

"You sure, kiddo?"

"Yeah!" Grell runs up and immediately scales up the tree right to the top, where he sits there grinning, pleased with himself.

Mr. Sutcliff gives a chuckle before heading over to the tree. "All right, kid, off the tree. I don't want to saw it down when you're still on it."

Grell jumps straight off the top of the tree, rolling once he hits the ground, unharmed. For a kid, he's sure been taught well, and he's already on his way to becoming a fighting genius.

"Here." Grell's dad hands him the saw. "Why don't you try cutting it down?" He holds his hands over Grell's as he shows him how to hold the saw. "You move your arm from the shoulder, tighten these muscles but relax these ones. Use both hands."

"Like this?"

"Yeah, you got it!"

Upon the encouragement, Grell bounds over to the tree and starts hacking away at the base. Sure, it takes him longer than it would an adult, but so long as he's having fun, his father thinks to himself.

Eventually the tree falls with a crash and a loud whoop from Grell.

"Great job" Mr. Sutcliff wraps his arms around his son in a big bear hug. "You're going to grow up to be a strong man, I can just tell."

Grell's face falls a bit. There's something... wrong...with that statement. He's not sure what it is. The statement isn't even wrong... but he doesn't like it. It's a weird, and unfamiliar feeling. He doesn't like being called a boy or a man. But then if he's not a boy or a man then what is he? Maybe if he just ignores the feeling it'll go away.

Grell's dad misses this reaction and lets go of him and moves to tie the tree to the sled. Once it's securely tied, he moves the rope over his shoulder.

"Let's head back home, Grell."

Grell nods excitedly, already having temporarily forgotten the problem and bounds over to tug at the rope, eager to help and prove himself in his father's eyes.


	4. Chapter 4- Ashlyn

-ASHLYN-

A young girl wanders around the house, swinging her hands back and forth in exaggerated motions to dry the nail polish on her hands. Her ginger hair is in a high bouncy ponytail, and her eyes are shining with excitement behind her glasses. Today is her birthday.

She's sure her parents are going to give her a wonderful birthday present just like they promised. Maybe she'd actually be able to spend time with them for once. They could go out to the mall. Go shopping. She could hold her parents' hands for once and have them walking together.

She smells cigarette smoke from near the balcony on the third floor and rushes over. Sure enough, her mother's standing there on the balcony, talking on the phone, tapping the cigarette on the elaborate ashtray.

"Mom! Momma!" She bounds over to her mother, only to have the woman hush her mid-sentence.

Mrs. Redwood holds up a finger, and merely continues talking on the phone.

Ashlyn's bright smile falls slightly, so she draws back to the balcony and waits.

Finally, after what seems to be an eternity, the woman hangs up the phone, and adjusts her slitted black dress with long manicured nails. A powerful woman, Mrs. Redwood must always look her best. What are Grim Reaper jobs fit for if one can get much more profit through a business? She glances at her daughter through her bright red bangs.

"Was there something you needed?"

Ashlyn pauses. "Well... I was hoping for a happy birthday. Because... you know. Today's my birthday, in case you forgot."

Mrs. Redwood surveys her daughter for a moment before walking up and patting her hair. "Happy Birthday, sweetheart." She digs in her wallet and hands her a couple hundred dollars. "Here. We'll drop you off at the mall today and you can buy whatever you want."

"...Can't you come with me?"

"I'm afraid daddy and I have to work today. We can always go another time." She says as she exits the balcony, extinguishing her cigarette.

Ashlyn is left standing there, looking down at the floor. Her nails smudged a bit when she took the money, but she doesn't care anymore. Is this... this wad of green paper, is it really worth more than the chance to spend time together? Has she been getting it all wrong?


	5. Chapter 5- Ronald

-RONALD-

The black and orange haired child slams the controller down on the couch.

"YEAH! VICTORY!"

He's all smiles as he takes a look at the winning title screen. It's taken him nearly a year to beat this video game.

He looks up as his mother walks in the room and smiles warmly at him, giving him a kiss on the forehead.

"How did it go?" Ronald asks expectantly of his mother.

"It's a boy." She says happily. "You'll have a little brother, Ronnie."

"What's 'is name gonna be?" He asks.

"Well, we've decided to leave that up to you." She sits down on the couch beside him. "You can name him for us."

Ronald thinks for a while, looking between the bump on his mother's stomach and the screen.

"Hmm... why not Robbie? Like, Robert." Like the main character of his game.

"I think that's a great idea." His father says, having just entered the room. "What do you think, Lacy?"

"I think it's a wonderful name." Ronald's mother happily ruffles his hair, and stands up. "Dinner'll be ready in a few, okay?"

"'kay." He mumbles, staring at the screen. He's excited to have a sibling but he's a bit worried too. What if this new sibling is gonna make his parents stop loving him? Where do siblings even come from anyway?

He pauses as the negative thoughts give way to something else. He'd been called a 'halfie' today. He's not sure what that even is, but it sounded offensive.

He wanders back into the kitchen, where his mother is sitting at the table looking over a letter. Upon sensing her son's presence, she immediately folds up the letter and puts it away.

"Something the matter, Ronnie?"

"Mam, what's a 'halfie'?"

His mother pauses. "Did some kids call you that today?"

"Yeah."

"Well, in our world we have different kinds of shinigami. There are purebloods, half-bloods, human trans, and third bloods." She explains. "Purebloods are those who don't have any other blood in them. 'Halfie' is slang for half-blood. I used to be human, you know that. When a pureblood and a human trans shinigami get together, we make a half-blood. So that's you."

Ronald nods, a little confused.

"It's nothing offensive." His mother reassures him.

He nods again. "Okay."

His mother glances at the letter. "Ronnie..." She gets down on her knees in front of him carefully, putting her hands on her son's shoulders. "I don't want you playing with Vivian anymore."

The little boy's face falls. "W..why not?"

"She's dangerous, Ronnie, you know that."

"She doesn't mean any harm!"

"We can't risk it, I'm sorry. I got a letter today from the spells department, they're very worried about her condition." She says quietly. "I know she's your friend and I know you like her but it's too dangerous."

Ronald pauses, staring at the floor. "...okay."

His mother ruffles his hair affectionately, pulling him in for a hug. "It'll be fine, Ronnie."


End file.
